Alito Was Right
Before the Supreme Court of the United States’ ruling in Obergefell v Hodges attempted to summarily end the cultural debate on the issue of same sex marriage, eleven states had already redefined marriage to include same sex couples. The remaining 39 states’ resistance ranged from voter-rejected propositions to include same sex relationships in their state's marriage law(s) to state constitutional amendments defining marriage as only between a man and a woman.
Even prior to Obergefell, those who expressed concern over how the redefinition of marriage to include same sex relationships could be used as the basis to include other relationships such as polygamy were dismissed as alarmists.
Today those alarmists are looking more like prophets. The popular HGTV series "House Hunters" recently featured its first “throuple.” While one cable television show does not a culture make, it is an indication of how quickly culture moves. Proving the axiom that law and politics are downstream of culture, just short of five years since the Court’s decision mandated same sex marriage in all 50 states, the state of Utah is now moving toward recognition of polygamous relationships. The state Senate is considering legislation to decriminalize the practice.
In his dissent from the majority opinion in Obergefell, Justice Alito raised serious concerns over the societal and cultural impact of the decision and the implications, especially for religious liberty. Justice Alito warned specifically that the decision would be used,
“…to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy. In the course of its opinion, the majority compares traditional marriage laws to laws that denied equal treatment for African-Americans and women. The implications of this analogy will be exploited by those who are determined to stamp out every vestige of dissent.”
Justice Alito continued by noting the two sentences of Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion devoted to the rights of those who would disagree,
“Perhaps recognizing how its reasoning may be used, the majority attempts, toward the end of its opinion, to reassure those who oppose same-sex marriage that their rights of conscience will be protected. We will soon see whether this proves to be true. (emphasis added) I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools.”
After their initial decision was vacated and remanded by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Oregon Court of Appeals recently heard oral arguments in the case of Aaron and Melissa Klein. The Kleins lost their family business, SweetCakes by Melissa, when the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) imposed a $135,000.00 penalty against the bakers for declining to custom design a wedding cake for a same sex couple. The Kleins were indeed labeled bigots by government and called much worse by the “tolerant” community of social media who plumbed the depths of the English language to verbally assault the Kleins and their children.
When five unelected and unaccountable judges wrest policy away from the intended policymaking branches, the only dissenters tolerated are the other four unelected and unaccountable judges.
https://townhall.com/columnists/lathanwatts/2020/03/06/alito-was-right-n2563397
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